BILL NUMBER: AB 1355	CHAPTERED  10/10/99

	CHAPTER   788
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   OCTOBER 10, 1999
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   OCTOBER 7, 1999
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   SEPTEMBER 10, 1999
	PASSED THE SENATE   SEPTEMBER 9, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   SEPTEMBER 8, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 17, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JUNE 24, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   APRIL 22, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   APRIL 14, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   APRIL 6, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   APRIL 5, 1999

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Havice
   (Coauthors:  Assembly Members Cardenas, Firebaugh, Floyd,
Lowenthal, Robert Pacheco, Vincent, and Washington)
   (Coauthor:  Senators Hughes and Karnette)

                        FEBRUARY 26, 1999

   An act to add Division 22.8 (commencing with Section 32600) to the
Public Resources Code, relating to the San Gabriel and Lower Los
Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1355, Havice.  San Gabriel  and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and
Mountains Conservancy.
   (1) Existing law authorizes various conservancies to acquire,
manage, and conserve public lands in the state.
   This bill would establish the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles
Rivers and Mountains Conservancy to acquire and manage public lands
within the main San Gabriel Basin, the San Gabriel River and its
tributaries, the Lower Los Angeles River and its tributaries, and the
San Gabriel Mountains.
   (2) The bill would become operative only if SB 216 of the
1999-2000 Regular Session is enacted and becomes operative on or
before January 1, 2000.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Division 22.8 (commencing with Section 32600) is added
to the Public Resources Code, to read:

      DIVISION 22.8.  SAN GABRIEL AND LOWER LOS ANGELES RIVERS AND
MOUNTAINS CONSERVANCY
      CHAPTER 1.  GENERAL PROVISIONS

   32600.  This division shall be known, and may be cited, as the San
Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy Act.

   32601.  The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the San
Gabriel River and its tributaries, the Lower Los Angeles River and
its tributaries, and the San Gabriel Mountains, Puente Hills, and San
Jose Hills constitute a unique and important open-space,
environmental, anthropological, cultural, scientific, educational,
recreational, scenic, and wildlife resource that should be held in
trust to be preserved and enhanced for the enjoyment of, and
appreciation by, present and future generations.
   32602.  There is in the Resources Agency, the San Gabriel and
Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy, which is created
as a state agency for the following purposes:
   (a) To acquire and manage public lands within the Lower Los
Angeles River and San Gabriel River watersheds, and to provide
open-space, low-impact recreational and educational uses, water
conservation, watershed improvement, wildlife and habitat restoration
and protection, and watershed improvement within the territory.
   (b) To preserve the San Gabriel River and the Lower Los Angeles
River consistent with existing and adopted river and flood control
projects for the protection of life and property.
   (c) To acquire open-space lands within the territory of the
conservancy.
   (d) To provide for the public's enjoyment and enhancement of
recreational and educational experiences on public lands in the San
Gabriel Watershed and Lower Los Angeles River, and the San Gabriel
Mountains in a manner consistent with the protection of lands and
resources in those watersheds.

      CHAPTER 2.  DEFINITIONS

   32603.  As used in this division, the following terms have the
following meaning:
   (a) "Board" means the governing board of the San Gabriel and Lower
Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy.
   (b) "Conservancy" means the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles
Rivers and Mountains Conservancy.
   (c) "Territory" means the territory of the conservancy that
consists of those portions of Los Angeles County and Orange County
located within the San Gabriel River and its tributaries, the Los
Angeles River and its tributaries, and the San Gabriel Mountains,
including, without limitation, all of the following:
   (1) The hydrologic basin or watershed that coincides with the
upper San Gabriel River watershed, including the Upper Rio Hondo
tributary, but not including any land area within the Santa Monica
Mountains Conservancy as described in Chapter 2 (commencing with
Section 33100) and Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 33200) of
Division 23.  The hydrologic basin or watershed is bounded by the San
Gabriel Mountains to the north, the San Jose Hills to the east, the
Puente Hills to the south, and by a series of hills and the Raymond
Fault to the west.
   (2) The hydrologic basin or watershed that coincides with the
lower San Gabriel River watershed.
   (3) The San Gabriel Mountains, including the Foothills Mountains
Conservancy and the Puente Hills and San Jose Hills area, except any
land area within the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy as described
in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 33100) and Chapter 3
(commencing with Section 33200) of Division 23.
   (4) The hydrologic basin or watershed that coincides with the Los
Angeles River south of the northernmost boundary of the City of
Vernon, as of June 1, 1999, except any land area within the Santa
Monica Mountains Conservancy, as described in Chapter 2 (commencing
with Section 33100) and Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 33200) of
Division 23.

      CHAPTER 5.  LIMITATIONS

   32620.  Nothing in this division shall be interpreted to grant the
board any regulatory or governing authority over any ordinance or
regulatory measure adopted by a city, county, or special district
that pertains to land use, water rights, or environmental quality.
   32621.  (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this division,
the conservancy shall not take any action that does any of the
following:
   (1) Interferes or conflicts with the exercise of the powers or
duties of any watermaster, public agency, or other body or entity
responsible for groundwater or surface water management or
groundwater replenishment as designated or established pursuant to
any adjudication or statute.
   (2) Interferes or conflicts with any provision of any judgment or
court order issued, or rule or regulation adopted, pursuant to any
adjudication affecting water or water management in the San Gabriel
River watershed and basin.
   (3) Impedes or adversely impacts any previously adopted Los
Angeles County Drainage Area project, as described in the report of
the Chief of Engineers dated June 30, 1992, including any supplement
or addendum to that report as of September 1, 1999, or any
maintenance agreement to operate the project.
   (4) Results in the degradation of water quality, or interferes or
conflicts with any action by a watermaster or public agency that is
authorized pursuant to statute, any water right or adjudication
including, but not limited to, any action relating to water
conservation, groundwater recharge, conservation or storage of water,
or both, the pumping of groundwater, water treatment, the regulation
of spreading, injection, pumping, storage, or the use of water from
local sources, stormwater flows and runoff, or from imported or
reclaimed water that is undertaken in connection with the management
of the San Gabriel River or any branch, stream, fork, or tributary
thereof, a groundwater basin, or groundwater resource.
   (5) Interferes with, obstructs, hinders, or delays the exercise
of, any water right by the owner of a public water system, including,
but not limited to, the construction, operation, maintenance,
replacement, repair, location, or relocation of any well or water
pumping, treatment, or storage facility, pipeline, or other facility
or property necessary or useful to the operation of the public water
system.
   (b) The conservancy shall provide written notice to every water
association in the jurisdiction of the conservancy of any proposed
action, policy, or project that may affect any water right or water
delivery system at least 45 calendar days prior to the date set for
approval of any of those matters by the conservancy.
   (c) As used in this section, "adjudication" means any final
judgment or order entered in any judicial proceeding adjudicating or
affecting water rights, surface water management, or groundwater
management.
   (d) The conservancy shall consult with other conservancies within
the Resources Agency prior to implementing any project pursuant to
this division in which there may be a jurisdictional overlap between
those conservancies. Each of those conservancies shall make its best
effort to resolve any issues regarding any project development that
is carried out pursuant to this division in a mutually advantageous
and environmentally beneficial manner. Any dispute between the
conservancies shall be referred to the Resources Agency for
resolution.
  SEC. 2.  This act shall become operative only if Senate Bill 216 of
the 1999-2000 Regular Session is enacted and becomes effective on or
before January 1, 2000.
  SEC. 3.  The Legislature recognizes that Chapter 1 (commencing with
Section 32600) of Division 22.8 of the Public Resources Code, as
added by this bill, is identical to that chapter, as added by Senate
Bill 216.  It is the intent of the Legislature that Chapter 1
(commencing with Section 32600) as added by both bills be given
effect.  It is the intent of the Legislature that the provisions of
Senate Bill 216 which add Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 32604)
and Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 32611) of Division 22.8 of the
Public Resources Code be integrated with Chapter 2 (commencing with
Section 32603) and Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 32620) of
Division 22.8 of the Public Resources Code, as added by this bill,
with the result that there be one Division 22.8 (commencing with
Section 32600) of the Public Resources Code.
